Steven Covey once wrote that ‘A week is the normal lens that
gives us the most manageable perspective’.
What he meant was that a week is a sizeable period in which one can plan
and schedule the week and get a better idea of what is to come. However looking back at the week that has
gone by, it seems that the week is a
long time during which a lot can happen.
As people within the humanitarian community worldwide
grasped the reality of the old definition of globalisation ‘when the west
sneezes, the east catches the cold’, as details of the Chad Orphans case unfolded, on Friday the 2nd
of November, the humanitarian community within Sri Lanka braced itself fearing the worst as news broke that the
political leader of the LTTE had been killed
by Sri Lankan Airforce attacks.
Whatever the outcome of the case in Chad, the repercussions
will be felt for a long time to come.
Firstly the already negative perceptions for humanitarian organisations
will not be improved one bit. The events
in Chad will only serve to reinforce the suspicion that humanitarian agencies
(particularly those based in Europe and the States) have a hidden agenda with
regards to the developing world. The
sheer arrogance and naivety with which members of ‘Zoe’s Ark’ went about the
‘adoption of orphans’ is nothing short
of an intelligently challenged mindset
towards those less fortunate than us. The
fact that it was done to those members of society with the weakest voice, the
children, is reprehensible. Robbing a
nation of children rather than empowering and educating them in order for them
to build their own country smells like the old colonial stench that was present
in the 18th, 19th and beginning of the 20th
century.
The fact that these were done by so called volunteers casts
a serious shadow on the nature of humanitarian and charity work. It is
important for observers to differentiate between those engaged in humanitarian
work delivering a real product and service and those engaged purely as a way of
redemption of their past sins.
Volunteers are always a part and parcel of the existence of non profit
organisations however this should not exempt them from their responsibilities
towards the communities that they serve.
Humility is always the key when dealing with people who are less
fortunate than those bringing the help.
To think otherwise is to tread a very narrow line. Here in Sri Lanka, especially after the
tsunami, one has often witnessed the emergence of similar ‘mummy & daddy’
(as they are fondly called) organisations with a lot of good will and very
little else. Whilst good will is
important, it can only go so far before inexperience and immaturity give rise
to serious mistakes. There is no denying
that in Sri Lanka, a lot of good has been done by these agencies, as the lack
of procedures and overheads has often meant that post tsunami reconstruction
has been faster than established humanitarian organisations. However what has been noticed is that these
same agencies have often not followed
procedures or standards and there is very little means to hold them
accountable for mistakes, particularly in the long run and in particular a lot
of them have also originated out of a faith background with no impartiality
towards other religions and cultures.
Hence prostelisation has been on the rise and what this has meant for
those of us who are in for the long haul, there is often a double challenge
when doing our work. Are you converting
people to your religion? Why are you
helping us?
If this was not enough to worry us in Sri Lanka, the death
of Tamilselvam cast a shadow of uncertainty into the future of Sri Lanka. As the news broke, text messages were sent
across displaying security notices and warnings to remain vigilant. The immediate thought was that retaliation
from the LTTE might be deadly and swift.
Security checks were tightened in Colombo as the President urged
civilians to be vigilant. ‘What does it
matter? Peace needs to be obtained
whereby there is not only an absence of war, but is about people living in this
absence of fear within one nation’ reminisced Madumanthi, a social worker based
out of Matara in the south of Sri Lanka.
Whilst her thoughts might be unique for someone out of the south, there
is increasingly a sense amongst people out of the north and east, that the
solution for Sri Lanka’s problems does not rest in a military solution. This is an increasing silent minority and in
fact can be evident from the muted public response to the death of the LTTE
leader. Whether this is weariness from a
conflict that has sapped the physical, financial, intellectual and moral energy
of a nation or the realisation that injustices of the past need to be
corrected, only time will tell. However
what is certain for the near future and if all analysts are correct, there will
be a tough time ahead. Within the
humanitarian community, it is probably business as usual, but probably with
more security consciousness as well as the expectation of a greatere number of
displaced people. As one colleague from
another organisartion mentioned ‘ We will probably go back to the way we were
operating pre 2002’. If this is the
case, then this would be a sad reversal of the fortunes of a country that experienced
great joy and sorrow over the last 5 years.
Whatever happens, the incidents of last week will
undoubtavle thorw challenges to our work.
These can either be problems or these can be opportunities. It depends on how you see the glass.
